SkyPix

A digital photographic storybook of clouds, weather and water by Roger Edwards.

Stack of Plates

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In June 2003, this skeletal supercell erupted on the High Plains plateau of northeastern New Mexico, between Abbott and Mills, then twisted its way conveniently south-southeastward beside the only paved road in the region.  For the few fortunate enough to witness its whole evolution, it will be remembered for a lifetime, despite never having a reasonable chance of producing a tornado.  Beauty was … [Read more...]

Mesocyclone Tandem

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This southeastern Oklahoma supercell—here seen in an uncommonly open view for that area—was more complicated than it may appear!  Despite the promising look of this wall cloud, and the fact that it was indeed rotating in real time, the supercell was between tornadic cycles.  The first we barely missed; the second would start to our east in a road hole, unseen.   What cut short the mesocyclone in … [Read more...]

Glacial Wall

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Small ice floes littered Glacier Bay below the imposing bulk of Margerie Glacier.  This steady (not retreating nor advancing in the net) ice mass flows just 21 miles off 12,860-foot Mt. Root.  The visible height of these ice cliffs was about 250 feet, with another 100 feet of underwater ice bringing the total waterfront glacial depth to 350 feet.  This is a renowned area for watching big … [Read more...]

Knobby Severe Hailstones

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An old, well-worn drafting ruler from high school—not very long for the world—measured knobby and/or wrinkly hailstones that fell from the hook of the infamous Tushka supercell, in the town of Milburn.  The variety of evident formative and cumulative processes for hailstones landing on the same patch of ground can be fascinating!  It's obvious, for example, that the lower right piece, with its … [Read more...]

Blown Dune Top

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Whether from water or wind, this is how sand ridges and dunes form and shift:  fluid flow across them.  Here in the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado, eolian sand from the upper Rio Grande, in the San Luis Valley, has accumulated against the Sangre de Cristos and formed massive dunes amidst the prevailing southwesterlies.  However, in this case, northeast outflow winds from earlier mountain … [Read more...]

Jekyll Island Beach

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Driven there on a much-higher wave and water-level combination than anything recent to the photo, a log rests bleached and dried and high off the tide, on Jekyll Island's beaches wide.  Wind and water alike shape these dunes, where not stabilized by salt-tolerant plants. Jekyll Island GA (31 Oct 8) Looking NE 31.-0553, -81.4069 … [Read more...]